Provo citizens were excited to hear that the 4th of July “Grand Parade” was set to happen despite the COVID-19 pandemic. City officials announced that the parade would be compliant with social distancing rules, and take full precautions for the safety of all involved. 

However, due to a typo in the instructions, rather than staying 60 feet apart, all floats were 600 feet apart from each other. 

“It was basically just seeing a float, cheering, and then waiting 15 minutes in silence for the next one.” said Mikayla Ross, who attended the parade. “Thankfully, the people on the Provo High float were throwing out candy, because I was starving four hours in.”

Further delays were caused when the City of Provo float, which carries the mayor, got off course after the driver, Brett Pearson, took a wrong turn. Pearson reportedly couldn’t see the street signs because his glasses were fogged up due to his N95 mask. He added, “Normally, not seeing the signs wouldn’t be a problem, but I couldn’t just follow the float in front of me because, ya know, it was 600 feet away.”

Pearson ended up turning on to a street where citizens were protesting police brutality and had to wait 20 minutes to avoid hitting any protestors. “I wish they had cleared the way faster, but I wasn’t going to hit protestors.” he continued, “It would be crazy if the mayor’s vehicle hit a protestor.”